Robert Balling has a long history of conducting research on the climate change issue with a special interest in blending in applications involving Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Many of his research projects look at output from numerical climate models that simulate the effects of altering atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. In his work, Professor Balling compares historical climate observations with results predicted by the models for the same time periods. At times, the observations are consistent with expectations from the models, but at other times, they are not. Other recent projects use satellite-based observations to investigate hourly patterns of precipitation.

Balling has written four books on the climate change issue, he has served as a science consultant to the United Nations, and he was the 2011 ASU Professor of the Year awarded by Order of Omega Greek Honorary Society. He is also the director of the Master of Advanced Study in Geographic Information Systems program.